Sewing tray with handle



Oct. 13., 197% LERNER ETAL $33,541

SEWING TRAY WITH HANDLE Filed June 19, 1968 INVENTORS ROBERT Z LERNER NATHAN J. ROSE TTORNEYS United States Patent O US. Cl. 224-48 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A sewing tray capable of being stored in a sewing box and receiving spools of thread, bobbins and other sewing accessories which includes a handle which lays flat in the stored position and which can rotate to an upright position and also move upwardly in a vertical plane whereby the handle may be easily grasped and utilized to carry the tray.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Sewing trays and sewing boxes having removable trays are known in the art. The tray will generally store various small sewing tools and implements while, in the sewing box beneath the tray, larger sewing implements and accessories may be stored. In many sewing boxes with removable trays, it is necessary to remove the tray to gain access to the storage area beneath the tray. Also, it is often desirable to be able to carry the tray, independently of the box, to the work area. If the tray closely interfits with the box, removal of the tray from the box may be difficult. The application of a handle to the tray would normally prevent the tray from remaining steady when carried and would render it difiicult to maintain the low profile that is normally desired for attractive design.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Generally speaking, in accordance with the invention, a sewing tray is provided with a handle which is posi tionable to a stored position below the top level of the tray so as not to affect the profile of the sewing box which receives the tray. The. handle is rotatable to an upright position and is also vertically slidable in order to provide, with a small handle, sufiicient clearance for the handle to be gripped and also to move the handle into a position where rotation or rocking action is arrested whereby the tray may be steadied through the handle when carried by the handle.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide improved carrying means for a sewing tray.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved handle for a tray in which the handle is collapsed below the top level of the tray when the handle is out of use.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved collapsible handle for a tray which is capable of steadying the tray when the tray is being carried by the handle.

Still another object of the invention is to provide means for supporting a handle on a tray whereby adequate clearance for grasping the handle will be provided despite the small size of the handle.

Still other objects and advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part be apparent from the specification.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of 3,533,541 Patented Oct. 13, 1970 construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 'For a fuller understanding of the invention, reference is had to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a sewing tray showing the handle in upright, operative position;

FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view, at an enlarged scale, taken along line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2, with the handle in collapsed position being shown in phantom lines; and FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view taken along line 44 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIG. 1, tray 11 has a base 12 and a peripheral side wall 13. The side wall may have an outwardly extending lip 14 by which the tray is supported in a sewing box (not shown). Trays of this type are generally molded of plastic material and are often molded of transparent material. A plurality of upwardly extending walls 15 define various compartments for storage of pins, buttons and the like. A plurality of upwardly extending posts 16 are provided for mounting thereon spools of thread. Two racks 17 are provided with a plurality of pocket 18 in each rack for receiving bobbins. The open area between racks 17 may be used for storage of larger items, such as scissors and shears. Several posts 19 may also be provided for supporting thimbles.

The several elements described above are merely representative and the location and orientation of the various elements is a matter of choice. Sewing trays will generally have most of the elements in order to provide storage for the usual accessories and equipment used by a seamstress.

Referring more specifically to FIGS. 2 through 4, two vertical columns 21 are formed extending upwardly from base 12 to support a handle 22. The columns are formed as hollow wall members with each column including at least a front wall 23. Each front wall is provided with an elongated vertical slot 24 having a narrow upper end 25 and a wide lower end 26 which communicates with the narrow upper end along smooth arcs.

At each end of U-shaped handle 22 there is provided a web 31 extending outwardly from the end of the handle which web terminates in a stop element 32 which retains the handle within the lower end 26 of slot 24 after assembly thereof.

When handle 22 is in the raised position shown in FIG. 2, web 31 is closely received in the upper end 25 of slot 24 as shown in FIG. 4 whereby to limit relative rotational movement between the handle and each of the columns. Rotational movement of the handle is further limited by the provision of a flat 33 on the upper end of each stop element 32 which engages the top wall of each column 21. Thus, with the handle in the raised position, a firm grip on the handle will prevent rocking of the tray and it is clear that when the tray is carried by the handle, the handle will remain in the FIG. 2 position as the tray will hang therefrom. It may also be seen in FIG. 2 that, despite the short clearance of the handle, adequate room between the handle and the base of the tray will be provided for physically gripping the handle as the result of upward movement of the handle in the columns.

When the tray is placed on a support surface such as a table or placed in its storage box and the lifting force on the handle is released, the handle may be stored flat on base 12 as shown in phantom lines in FIG. 3. When the handle is lowered, web 31 moves into the area of lower end 26 of slot 24 whereby to allow the handle to rotate in the clockwise direction to the phantom line position as viewed in FIG. 3. In all positions of the handle, removal of the handle from the columns is prevented by means of stop elements 32 or the spread of the handle.

With such construction, a handle of relatively small size may be used to minimize the amount of spacce the handle takes up in the stored position while still permitting sufficient room for the handle to be physically grasped when the handle is in the raised position.

With the handle and tray fabricated of plastic material which softens on heating, the handle may be initially assembled in the columns by slightly collapsing the handle and then spreading the handle to position stop elements 32 within the lower ends of the slots, whereafter, once the handle cools, the handle will not inadvertently come loose from the tray.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

What is claimed is:

1. A tray comprising, in combination, substantially fiat base within an upstanding peripheral wall, a pair of hollow columns extending upwardly from said base and each including a first side and a top portion, said first side of one of said columns facing said first side of the other of said columns, a slot in each of said first sides, each slot having a narrow upper portion and a wide lower portion, a U-shaped handle having terminal ends, a web extending laterally outwardly from each terminal end and passing through a proximate one of said slots, and a stop element on the end of each of said webs within said column, the width of each web being substantially the same as the width of the narrow upper portion of said slots, the width and height of each stop element being greater than the width of the narrow upper portion of said slots and being so dimensioned as to pass through the wide lower portion of said slots.

2. A tray as claimed in claim 1, wherein the distance between said stop elements is greater than the distance between the said facing first sides of said columns, said terminal ends of said handles being deflectable toward one another during assembly of said tray for permitting said stop elements to enter said columns.

3. A tray as claimed in claim 2, wherein each of said stop elements has a flat edge perpendicular to the plane of said handle and facing upwardly when said handle is in a vertical position, and the inside surface of said top portion of each of said columns is a flat surface adapted to mate with said flat edge when said handle is in a raised, verticl position.

4. A tray as claimed in claim 2, wherein said handle includes a rib extending along the length thereof, said webs being formed as part of and extending outwardly from said rib.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 340,721 4/ 1886 Litchfield. 1,267,810 5/1918 Singleton 224-48 1,449,267 3/ 1923 Cole 220-9l XR 2,427,004 9/ 1947 Kampp.

FOREIGN PATENTS 454,236 1/ 1949 Canada.

16,331 8/ 1891 Great Britain.

ROBERT G. SHERIDAN, Primary Examiner F. E. WERNER, Assistant Examiner 

